There's One Thing The Academy Awards Did Right

As I had posted here, the Academy Awards show last night included Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima in their memoriam segment.

Here's what flashed on the nation's television screens (for those who bothered to watch the show):

Let's Be Honest The Oscars Hate Star Wars

The truth is, no Star Wars movie has won an Academy Award since 1981!

From The LA Times

Mark Hamill, Kelly Marie Tran, Oscar Isaac and BB-8 took the stage at the 2018 Oscars to present the awards for animated short and animated feature.

But their film, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” ended the night winless, extending the franchise’s Oscars drought.

It’s been 40 years since George Lucas and his galactic fairy tale made their debut at the Academy Awards, and “Star Wars” has made itself at home in the years since.

But while the franchise has racked up a respectable 33 nominations, spread over nine films (including 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”), the series hasn’t brought an Oscar home since 1981.

The galaxy far, far away had by far its most successful showing at the 1978 ceremony, where “Star Wars: A New Hope” won six categories, including film editing, score and visual effects.

(Fun fact: George Lucas has never won an Oscar for the “Star Wars” franchise. His ex-wife, Marcia Lucas, has won an Oscar for the films, thanks for her part in editing the original film.)

“A New Hope” garnered the most nominations among “Star Wars” films at the Oscars, with 10 nominations. At the 1981 awards, heat for the series was already fading, with “The Empire Strikes Back” earning three nominations but only one win.

“Empire’s” win for best sound is the last Oscar the franchise has earned, special achievement awards notwithstanding.

But Oscar nominations continue to roll in for the “Star Wars” universe. Here’s a look at how nominations break down by picture.

“Star Wars: A New Hope” — 6 wins, 10 nominations

“Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” – 1 win, 3 nominations

“Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” – 4 nominations

“Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” — 3 nominations

“Star Wars: Attack of the Clones” — 1 nomination

“Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” — 1 nomination

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” — 5 nominations

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” — 2 nominations

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” — 4 nominations

We’ll see how the next “Star Wars” film fares next year.

Source

Wonder Woman: Another Reason Why The Oscars Are Out Of Touch (Suck)

The nominations for this years Oscars are out ... and surprise, Wonder Woman was snubbed receiving zero nominations. In recent years I have constantly ridiculed the Academy for turning the Oscars into "The Movies That Nobody Has Ever Seen Awards". The roots of this can be traced all the way back to 1977 when the Woody Allen comedy "Annie Hall" won best picture over "Star Wars".

Have you ever seen "Annie Hall"? I rest my case.

Over the past two years I have fumed over how both "The Force Awakens" and "Rogue One" were given the middle finger by the Academy. Both films were the top grossing films each year respectively, not to mention the fact that Rogue One was an amazing film, yet they were all but ignored when the hardware was handed out.

That brings me back to Wonder Woman, which may be the best (or at least one of the best) superhero movies ever. Again the film was a huge hit both at the box office and was heralded by both fans and critics alike.

I would say that the Academy simply hates anything science fiction or fantasy related if it hadn't been for "Mad Max: Fury Road" sweeping just about every category just three years ago.

I'm still shaking my head over that one.

Here is the story from Entertainment Weekly:

The 2018 Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday morning and one fan favorite title was utterly snubbed in all categories: Wonder Woman.

Fans hoped the breakout DC hit starring Gal Gadot would at least get something in the big awards race — like perhaps a directing nod to Patty Jenkins, who overcame industry skepticism to launch the first female-fronted superhero box office blockbuster in, well, ever.

Or maybe at least something in technical categories, like sound mixing or costumes? But no. Wonder Woman will just have to be content with $800 million in worldwide box office, critical acclaim, and legions of fans who found the film inspiring.

Other snubs included: The lack of best picture nod for the terrific I, Tonya (though Margot Robbie was deservedly nominated for best actress), Academy favorite Tom Hanks missing out on best actor for The Post, James Franco not getting his expected best actor nod in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations, and indis favorites The Florida Project and The Big Sick not getting a best picture nod.